Trouble in paradise – again

Not so elementary in Watsons Bay . . . 23 out of 25 submissions oppose the development.
Photo: Peter Braig

by
Ainslie Chandler

Residents of Watsons Bay in Sydney are bristling at Toga Hospitality managing director
Allan Vidor
’s latest development plans for a massive mansion on the harbour front in the leafy eastern suburb.

Mr Vidor and wife Sharon plan to knock down two Federation-era homes on a 1010 square metre waterfront block to build a $3.5 million-plus mansion.

Plans include a three-level home with five bedrooms, a library, roof terrace, guest suite, three-car garage, pool, spa, steam room, pottery room, cellar and various outdoor areas. The existing boat shed and jetty would be retained, council documents show.

Twenty-five submissions were made on the plans. Only two were supportive of the Pacific Street development.

Those who have expressed concern at the proposed development include the director of the Centre for Policy Development and former Qantas boss John Menadue, former Australian Trade Commissioner Roger Bayliss, and the Sydney Harbour Association’s Michael Rolfe.

Council officers suggested the Woollahra Municipal Council’s Development Control Committee should approve the development, subject to several conditions. But this week the committee deferred considering the development until late next month.

The harbour-front block was created when the Vidors amalgamated two multimillion-dollar sites last year.

Objections included that the size and scale of the development was excessive and not in keeping with local development controls and that views from neighbouring properties would be interrupted.

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View corridors would also be blocked by the design and scale of the development, in effect privatising views of Sydney Harbour, according to submissions sent to the council.

Objectors were also concerned the development proposal was not in keeping with the “ ‘maritime/beachside village’ character of the precinct".

It is the second time this year that proposed large-scale redevelopments have caused headaches in the well-to-do waterfront neighbourhood.

Former Socceroo
Mark Schwarzer
and wife Paloma met intense opposition this year when they lodged plans to spend $2.9 million renovating the historic home Boongarre, for which Schwarzer paid $10.2 million.

Local residents objected to the Schwarzers’ proposal on similar grounds to the Vidors’ – that it would interrupt views and was not in keeping with the character of the neighbourhood.

They also argued that the home should be preserved because of its links to the novelist Christina Stead, a former ­resident, and her family.

A council committee deferred considering the application in March, to seek advice from an external heritage consultant.